Lesson 675
Summary Tamako, Kanna, and Shinpachi see the arrival of a sharply dressed man carrying a sword case, followed by a large group of equally dressed men surrounding them. The figure tells the others to inspect the crates while he tests the trio. He throws his fedora at them as a distraction while jumping in the air and firing at them with his machine gun. Kanna and Shinpachi (carrying Tamako) dodge the barrage before the man, revealed to be Okita, attacks Shinpachi specifically. At the same time in a village, Gintoki tries to find Takasugi with no success until a tip leads him to "Takasugi" in a confrontation with a group of thugs. The thugs try to extort him but when he refused, call him out on being soft. "Takasugi" counters that his "sword" was for guiding all women young and old as his role as a feminist, revealing himself to be Takechi. An irritated Gintoki beats him up until Matoko points a gun to his head, demanding if their boss was still alive and wondering why he was in the village. Gintoki instead wonders if she had information on a potential scandal between her and Shinpachi's live-action actors but a mortified Matoko shoots at him. Back at the Edo docks, Shinpachi is surprised to see the sadist alive and tries to stop the fight. While dodging and blocking Okita's strikes he is further surprised to see Harada, Saito and most of the ex-Shinsengumi members here. Okita tells the bespectacled teen that although the Shinsengumi was "killed" to promote this peaceful era, the new government was no better than the shogunate. With Matsudaira's help, Okita and the Shinsengumi were able to disappear from the public and political radar, greatly helped by the political chaos caused by Katsura. So they've reformed themselves as the mafia and with Shinpachi being acquaintances with Katsura, it will make it easier to kill him. Shinpachi agrees to bring down the ex-Joui but insists that the two males shouldn't fight; Okita doesn't listen as he was having fun and Shinpachi notes that although Okita hadn't changed, he had gotten stronger. Kanna then calls out to Shinpachi, dismissively asking if he needed help in this 'charade' but the teen refuses, not wishing her to be in danger. Kanna instead counters that Okita wasn't exuding bloodlust and his strikes were weak and slow, nothing dangerous. Angered, Okita strikes at the child Yato, who easily dodges it and land on the sword. Unimpressed, Kanna states her disappointment on experiencing weak fighters despite her mother's stories and kicks Okita into a metal crate. Okita survives almost unscathed, impressed, but adds that if her power was enough to defeat Katsura, what about "the other"? Kanna asks what he means but she and Okita continue fighting. Meanwhile, on one of the village bridges, Gintoki confirms to Takechi and Matako that Takasugi was "alive", relieving the gun-woman. Takechi reveals that Takasugi disappeared without the Kiheitai and they had been searching for him ever since, still believing his survival. Gintoki wonders if the group finds him, will they reform and continue their antagonistic activities but the strategist insists that the Kiheitai didn't dissolve so they will continue to help their boss. The silver-haired man tells them to give up; their boss was doing his own thing now and them trying to meet him might make his resolve fail. This was why he left them, his friends, Gintoki concludes as he thinks back to how did the same to the Yorozuya. He states he won't stop Takechi and Matako from meeting with Takasugi, believing their decision might be the correct choice. He abruptly tells them goodbye before jumping over the bridge onto a passing boat. As Matako calls out to him, two old men passersby jump off the bridge to follow him, pulling out their hidden swords, just to have Gintoki immediately knock them out. Gintoki tells the boat owner to leave and as arrows fly from the surrounding buildings towards him, the shocked Matako wonders who was targeting him. Characters * Shimura Shinpachi * Kanna * Tama (cameo) * Matsudaira Katakuriko (referenced) * Katsura Kotarou (referenced) * Kondou Isao (mentioned) * Hijikata Toushirou (mentioned) * Shinsengumi ** Okita Sougo ** Saitou Shimaru (cameo) ** Harada Unosuke (cameo) * Sakata Gintoki * Kijima Matako * Takasugi Shinsuke (referenced) * Takechi Henpeita Category:Chapters